No one can hurt you now
by Blahsblah2001
Summary: Inuyasha swore to protect Kagome, but when she doesn't let him, he won't give up the promise. Not romance. Oneshot, completed, kinda scary.
1. Chapter 1

If I don't get at least one flame on this I am going to lose any trust I ever had in the future of humanity.  
Disclaimer: If you think I own Inuyasha, you are like love. Flattering, but very, very stupid.

_I swore to protect you.  
I promised you, Kagome, that no one would hurt you._  
Inuyasha stared at the river's rushing water. Between the ripples where his rams disappeared beneath the water, he could see the reflection of his face. His amber eyes, which were colder now than they had been, only a year ago. A lot had happened. Most of the innocence was gone, replaced with a world weariness which would never leave the hanyou's heart.  
_I promised I would never let you be hurt.  
Can't you see that he can't promise the same thing?  
That he won't?  
Can't you see that he will only hurt you?_  
In his reflection, the purple stripes that had been slowly darkening for weeks reached their full color.  
_Can't you see?_  
His reflection was shattered by a hand, breaking the surface, weakly pushing at him. He didn't yeild at all. The pressure faded, disappeared.  
"INUYASHA!"  
The hanyou was pushed into the water by the older youkai. He looked back at Koga, pulling Kagome out of the water.  
She looked more beautiful there than he had ever seen her, the water trailing in shining diamonds off her hair, her chin tilted back, lifeless eyes staring at the sky. Koga held her in his arms, where she had chosen to be.  
_I can't protect you when you flee to there._  
Koga carried her slowly to the bank, laying her on the soft grass. He shook her shoulder gently. Inuyasha's ears were able to pick up whispered words, meant for no one but Koga's beloved.  
"Kagome… wake up… he can't have hurt you…please, Kagome, wake up. Wake UP!"  
The last word was shouted, not that it made any difference. The youkai turned to Inuyasha, Kagome's killer.  
"You! Why would you? How could you?"  
But Inuyasha was gone, disappeared into the forest. Koga did not go after him, choosing to stay by Kagome's side. Choosing to hope.

Inuyasha jumped from one tree to the next, his red kimono clashing with the soft blue of the sky. His eyes filled with tears, tears for Kagome, tears for himself.  
_I swore to protect you.  
I did my best, Kagome.  
No one will hurt you ever again.  
No one can hurt you now._  
The tears slowed, stopped, and within minutes the red eyes that surveyed the ground were dry.

Yay for one shots. See, that took me about four minutes and I feel much better.  
I havn't returned to my natural angst niche, and am starting to act angsty in real life. (That is the purpose of my writing, to assure I show no emotion in real life.)  
Thanks for reading  
melissa


	2. Chapter 2

Um…. I said this was gonna be a one shot… I lied. For the reviewer who asked why: I have no soul, actually. It's easy.

That morning

Koga ran a hand over Kagome's black hair, and she grinned. She was leaning on his shoulder, where she had almost fallen asleep as they watched the sun rise. This was a pretty common thing, they did it almost every morning, but today felt… different somehow. Koga had a feeling in his stomach, like foreboding almost. Kagome's smile seemed sad.  
"What's wrong?" he asked her.  
"You'll get upset if I tell you."  
"I will not. You can tell me anything, I promise."  
"I fell kinda guilty. About Inuyasha, I mean."  
"That mutt? Why?"  
Though they had fought together many times, Koga had yet to think of Inuyasha as his equal. Actually, he had yet to think of him as anything other than his first impression: A hanyou mutt.  
"He was really upset, when I told him about… us."  
"He liked you, what did you expect?"  
"I think he thinks I abandoned him. Like Kikyo did."  
Sigh. Women and their feelings.  
"He's probably fine. He'll go hang out with Miroku for a few days, they'll travel around a bit, and he'll be just fine."  
Kagome gave him a dirty look.  
"That's exactly what we need, another Miroku."  
"Sango will put Miroku in line. I've known a lot of people in my lifetime. Trust me, it always works out in the end."  
"If you say so. Still, I think I should try to talk to him."  
Koga sighed.  
"Whatever you want."  
Kagome grinned again, laying her head back down. She could do that later. For now, she could relax.

Inuyasha found himself looking, for the millionth time, at his reflection. The light purple stripes were still there. They'd been slowly darkening since Kagome left, and he didn't know why. The tessaiga was always in it's sheath, he barely had reason to use it anymore.  
Miroku and Sango he avoided like the plague. The last thing he needed were the two of them deciding he was a lost cause and sealing him again, or worse.  
Not that they missed him. No, the two of them were perfectly content to be by themselves, as were Kagome and Koga.  
Kagome…  
Did the stripes just darken again?  
There was no reason for his youkai side to show itself. So why was it?  
"Inuyasha? Here you are!"  
He whirled around, facing the girl who was approaching the riverbank. She was downwind of him, no wonder he hadn't known she was there.  
"I've been looking all over for-"  
"What are you doing here?"  
Kagome looked a little taken aback by his brevity.  
"I came to find you. I wanted to talk."  
"Yeah, about what? How I'm not good enough?"  
"No! That's not what I meant… Inuyasha…"  
She looked closer at his face.  
"You're turning demon!"  
"I know."  
"Why? It's not the tessaiga?"  
"Forget it. It's not your problem, you've moved on."  
Without me.  
"Look, I wanted to talk to you about Koga."  
She was standing beside him now, looking up right into his amber eyes.  
"I still want to be your friend. We've been through a lot together. You've saved my life a hundred times, and I don't mean to just brush that off."  
"Then don't."  
"Inuyasha, something's wrong with you all of a sudden. Your demon blood. I want to help you."  
"It's not your problem to look after me. I can look after myself."  
I wanted to look after you, too. But you don't want me. You want Koga.  
"I still love you, you know."  
Interesting way of showing it.  
"So did Kikyo."  
"Why'd you have to go bring her up? She died once, she's died again, and I just want to forget her."  
"Will you forget me, too?"  
Not if you keep showing up.  
"Eventually, I guess."  
"I don't want you to forget me."  
Make your choice, me or him. I couldn't have both, neither can you. I swore to protect you long before he even knew you were alive. How can you forget that so easily?  
"I don't want you to leave."  
"Don't you see? This is what-"  
"You're the one who doesn't see. I was there by your side the whole time. I can't be there anymore. I can't protect you anymore."  
"But I want you to be!"  
Her hands moved to the string of beads around his neck. They glowed slightly as she lifted them over his head. He watched with amazement, and a good deal of gratitude, as she dropped them to the gravel bank.  
"I want you to be, because I can trust you now."  
Everything got fuzzy for a second, like they had been for a while. Kagome's eyes widened for a moment.  
"Inuyasha… your eyes…they were red."  
His senses seemed sharper too, he could hear her heart beating, a little faster now, he could see the worry in her eyes.  
It was fake. She was a fake.  
He knew it because he could smell better too.  
The scent of wolf covered her, her clothes, her skin, particularly her hair.  
"Inuyasha?"  
He couldn't protect her anymore, and she didn't want him to, but maybe, at least, he could keep her from Koga, who would only hurt her in the end.  
Growling, he pushed her back into the water. She wasn't prepared, and landed heavily in the knee-deep water.  
"What the hell are you doing?" she gasped, but he was above her, pushing her back into the murky water.  
It was the only way he could protect her.

By the way, in light of a brand new thematic element I made up, these are gonna be all out of order. I do this because I can. I'm hoping this isn't too complicated, so tell me if you don't get it, K?  
Until next time…  
melissa


End file.
